A/N: Hooray for updates! This chapter was actually coming along pretty nicely, that is, before I got stuck. And when I got stuck I got a little discouraged and couldn't write on this particular story cuz the writer's block bug bit me where it hurts. But, even though it was hard, I finally finished it! And I made nice and long cuz I know I have left all you wonderful readers hanging for a while and wanted to give you a nice read. Well, I hope you like it! Next chapter will be the last! Let me know how you like it! Everyone loves reviews!

Chapter Nine:

Sunset

Almost an eternity later the ship lurched and set sail. Both Cait and I had fallen into a peaceful sleep but were quite rudely awoken by the movements of the ship.

"Already?" Cait said, hopping out of my lap. "Well, wanna go find a way outta here, Teef?"

"Yeah," I said, getting up and stretching my stiff limbs.

I picked Cait up once again and began to blindly make my way through the cargo hold. I almost tripped at least a dozen times over loose floorboards or the edge of a crate. Finally after many moments of stumbling around I finally found a door. I yanked on the doorknob and smiled triumphantly when I saw a flight of stairs leading up. Once we reached the top of the stair I opened the door slightly and peeked out, wary about anyone seeing me. Outside the door was a straight hallway that led to yet another set of stairs.

"See anybody?" Cait asked, poking his head around the door.

"Looks clear to me." I pushed the door all the way open and quickly walked to the other end of the hallway. I cautiously peered up the stairs and spotted another door. I sighed. "How many doors are we going to have to go through?" I thought out loud.

"As many as it takes to get to the deck," Cait replied, matter of factly.

Once we reached the top of the second set of stairs I cautiously peeked my head out from behind the door yet again. I smiled as the cool ocean breeze hit my face and the soothing aroma of the salt water wafted through the air. I could hear gulls chattering above and dolphins singing in the waves below as they swam with the ship.

"Tifa?" Cait asked, tapping me on the shoulder. "You okay?"

I snapped out of my trance and shook my head. "Oh, sorry. I didn't realize how much I missed the sea." I paused briefly. "Well, let's go."

I cautiously slinked out from behind the door and carefully closed the door behind me. I hugged Cait tighter to my chest as I tip toed to the front of the ship. I spotted a large crowd of people standing around a platform that was pressed the ship's railing. An elderly man was standing on it and was dressed in a stark white robe that was adorned with many different colored jewels. He wore a funny looking cone shaped hat on his head that had just as many jewels on it.

I snuck into the back of the crowd, trying not to draw attention to myself. I looked up at the crowd of gulls, hoping to see Yuffie among them. I spotted her almost immediately. She squawked at me then continued circling the ship.

I turned my attention back to the front just as Tseng stepped onto the platform and motioned for everyone to sit down. I backed away and ducked into a dark corner where, hopefully, no one would see me.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Tseng said, once everyone had been seated. "Thank you all for coming to my cousin's wedding. He expresses his gratitude and hopes everyone here enjoys themselves. He is very much in love with Amanda and they are planning to spend the rest of their lives together. Thank you all again. We will be starting shortly."

Tseng stepped off the platform and walked off to the back of the ship. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as I stared at the sinking sun in the distance. The sun had just barely begun to touch the water. I had an hour or so tops until I turned back into a mermaid. A gull called above me as Yuffie gracefully dropped out of the sky and landed next to me.

"Hey, Tifa," she said, ruffling her wing feathers.

"Hi, Yuff," I said, kneeling down next to her. I set Cait on the ground so he could stretch his legs. "How's it going?"

"Pretty well considering the fact that we'll both be mermaids again in less than an hour."

I sighed and plopped down on my rear. "This is hopeless."

Yuffie gave me her best bird glare and fluffed up her feathers in protest. "Hey, wait just a second!" She said, coming around in front of me so she could look me in the eyes. "You've come all this way and now you're just gonna give up? You love Vincent don't you?"

I nodded as tears started to well up in the corners of my eyes. "Yes, I do. More than anything."

"Then get up and do something about it!" Yuffie exclaimed, throwing her wings up into the air like they were her arms. "You're not gonna get much done sitting here feeling sorry for yourself!"

I nodded and wiped my eyes dry. "You're right, Yuff," I said, standing up. "We have to get that amulet away from her. Can you do that?"

"You bet I can!" She shot up off the deck and vanished into the painted sky.

I jumped as music started playing and watched in surprise as everyone in the crowd rose to their feet and turned their heads. I followed everyone's eyes and spotted Vincent leading Amanda toward the platform where the man in the funny hat and robe stood waiting with a goofy grin on his face. Amanda looked towards me and flashed me an evil smile before quickly averting her eyes away from mine.

An angry scowl crept onto my lips as I watched her walk off but in that moment something so amazing, so incredible happened that I would have never believed if I wasn't there to witness it. A large column of water shot up into the air and fell right on top of Amanda, soaking her. Vincent was thrown away from her and he stumbled a little, grabbing onto the railing for support. After the water spout, about a dozen sea gulls flew up and started pelting Amanda with rocks and even pieces of coral.

I was forced to get out of the way because all the people sitting down had gotten spooked by this crazy turn of events and decided they'd be better off below deck. I tried grabbing Cait but I was carried away by the throng and forced up against the railing as people rushed past me. I stared in awe as dolphins jumped into the air and constantly sprayed Amanda with freezing cold seawater. I jumped and squealed slightly as I felt something crawl over my hand. I looked back and saw dozens of crabs crawl onto the deck and scuttle towards Amanda. She screeched when she saw them and gathered up her dress in her hands then dashing off towards the platform hoping that they wouldn't follow her.

"Get away from me!" She screeched, kicking their sharp pincher's away from her exposed toes. "Vincent! Help me!" I looked over at Vincent who was just as occupied with the crabs as Amanda was and started to walk towards him. "You stay away from him!" Amanda screamed, pointing an accusing finger at me.

Her tone made me jump back a few steps, surprised that the sea witch would raise her voice so dramatically like that. I saw a flash of white and before Amanda knew what was going on, Yuffie had her beak wrapped around the glowing pendant hanging from her neck. Amanda reached up and tried clawing Yuffie away from her but her attempt was in vain. Yuffie ripped the stone from the leather cord, sending it flying across the deck. I watched it as it plummeted down to the wood floor, my chest jumping into my throat. I took a step toward it, hoping to grab it before Amanda could get a hold of it again.

The pendant made contact with the deck and shattered instantly, spraying colored crystal all over. A golden cloud emerged from the center of the shattered crystal and floated towards me. I instinctively backed away as it swirled around my body. I stared down at my hands in shock as the wrinkles in my skin smoothed out. The glossy, healthy shine returned to my hair and my eyes redeemed their wine colored glow. The cloud dissipated as I hesitantly lifted my hands to my face. I patted my cheeks a few times before tears of joy welled up in my eyes.

I had my beauty back.

"Tifa?"

Vincent's voice brought me back down from the emotional high I was put into. He was looking at me with an almost confused look on his face before he gasped, like he had realized something important, and rushed towards me.

"No, Vincent, stay away from her!" Amanda's voice gurgled in the background.

Vincent ignored her though and grabbed me by the shoulders. "It's you!" He said, a wide smile on his face. "It was you all along! You're the girl that saved me!" He paused a moment as he stared into my once again vibrant eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

I bit my lip and looked away from his face briefly. "I wanted to tell you so badly. But I couldn't – "

My speech was impaired as white-hot pain coursed through my body. It felt like someone had taken a hot vat of oil and dumped it all over my legs. I felt them go limp and I cried out as I hit the hard floor of the deck. I looked down at my legs in confusion and gasped in horror as I laid my eyes on my tail. I gasped and peered over the ship's railing.

The sun had fallen below the horizon, painting the evening sky with an array of pinks and oranges.

My time was up.

I ripped my gaze away from the sunset and back towards Vincent. He was standing a few feet away from me, one of his hands tightly gripping the railing. He was staring down at my exposed tail with a look of astonishment. My cheeks flared bright pink in embarrassment as I drew my tail under my dress. This is what I was most afraid of; the one reason why I never told him who I was in the first place. My embarrassment quickly turned into anger. Not anger at Vincent but at what I was. Now that he knew I was some kind of sea creature he'd never fall in love with me. I might as well just jump over the railing and forget all about him.

"You fools! You're too late!"

I jumped as Ashela's voice boomed over the ocean's waves. I had forgotten all about her. I turned my eyes in the direction of her voice and had to fight back a scream as she came crawling towards me. She grabbed my roughly by the forearm and started to heft me over the railing.

"Hey! Wait!" Vincent yelled, running towards her. "You can't do this!"

Ashela stopped and looked back at him. "Sorry, Your Highness, but her and I made a bargain. She belongs to me now." She sneered at him menacingly before diving over the railing with me in tow. "Well, sweetheart," she said, once we were underwater. "Looks like your efforts to win over the dear Prince's heart was all for nothing."

I bit my lip as fresh tears started to well up in my eyes. I had been so close. So close to becoming a human forever. If only I had been a little faster. If only, if only…

"Ashela!"

I jumped at the sound of my father's voice, happiness welling up inside me almost instantly. I twisted in Ashela's grip and pumped my tail as hard as I could, hoping to escape her grasp. She quickly clamped down even harder on my wrist then reached out with her other arm and wrapped it tightly around my neck like a vice. I had to fight her just so I could breathe.

"Ashela," my father growled, tightening his grip on his trident. It began glowing brightly. "You let my daughter go!"

Ashela's face twisted in mock pleasure as she squeezed me even tighter. I began to cough and heard her snicker; she was obviously taking much enjoyment out of making me suffer. "Well, I would let her go but she made a deal with me."

My father's eyes widened as he brought them away from Ashela's. "Tifa, is it true?"

Tears clouded my vision once more as I hung my head in shame. "Yes," I replied in a small voice. "It's true."

"Why, Tifa? Why?" He asked, incredulously. I sighed, turning away from my father's grief stricken face. I couldn't look at him; the guilt was just too great. "It wasn't for one of those…those humans was it?"

I bit my bottom lip, keeping my eyes away from his and refusing to answer.

"Ashela, you can't do this," my father said, glaring at her menacingly.

"Oh, I can't?" She inquired, haughtily. "We made a deal and just because she's your daughter doesn't mean she can just swim away without keeping it." My father's face fell briefly until Ashela spoke up again a second later. "But…" She began, closing the distance between my father and her. "I was always one to make a bargain. Maybe we could make a trade."

His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he turned the sea witch's words over in his head, wondering what she could mean. "What kind of a trade?" He asked, his grip on his trident loosening.

My heartbeat quickened. "No, daddy, don't -!" Ashela quickly silenced me by clamping her hand over my mouth. I tried fighting her but for a haggard old woman she was surprisingly strong.

"Your daughter for you, of course." She sneered evilly. "That's not too much to ask, is it?"

My father looked at me and I shook my head desperately, trying to tell him not to fall for her tricks. He sighed and turned his eyes away from mine. His grip on his trident tightened and his muscles tensed slightly before his whole body went lax. The trident slipped from his hands and floated to the ground. The dust plumed up around it before dispersing once again.

"We have a deal," he said, lowering his head in defeat.

Ashela roughly shoved me over to the side and flung her hand out towards my father. Black mist swirled out of her fingertips and engulfed him. I gasped and began to swim toward him but Ashela roughly grabbed me once again and flung me right into a cleft of rocks. I cried out as my bare back raked against the rough stones. Tears clouded my vision but I refused to let the pain coursing through my body stop me from helping my father. I took a deep breath and prepared myself and, as I was getting ready to spring away from the rocks, I heard Ashela's cackled laughter. I looked up with wide eyes and gasped in horror.

The black mist that shot forth from Ashela's fingertips had turned my father to stone.

Tears clouded my vision as I looked upon the grotesque position his body had been frozen in. His arms were raised about his face in a meager attempt to shy away from the poisonous mist. His eyes were shut tightly and his face was twisted in anguish. I stared long and hard at what used to be my father with blank, unbelieving eyes. The ringing in my ears drowned out Ashela's maniacal laughter. The water around me seemed to grow dim and the only thing that was bright was my father.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be. I was supposed to be the one to pay, not my father. I wrenched my gaze away from the sight in front of me and turned toward Ashela with murder flaring in my eyes. She was snickering as she kneeled down and grabbed my father's trident off the ocean floor. At that moment, all my anger bubbled up from the pit of my stomach and spread out to every single nerve of my body. It felt like every cell in my body was on fire and that if I didn't let out some of my anger I would surely burst into flames.

"You monster!" I screamed, rushing towards the sea witch and wrapping my arms tightly around her neck.

She cried out in fury and clawed at my forearms. I clenched my teeth as her jagged nails bit into my skin over and over again. I held on for as long as my strength would allow me before I was ripped from her back and flung to the ocean floor. The trident in her hands flared a bright orange as she thrust it at my chest. I shut my eyes tightly and braced myself, praying that she wouldn't go through with stabbing me.

"Stay away from me you little tramp!" She bellowed, hovering the trident menacingly above me. "I rule the seas now!"

She started to laugh again but an ear splitting gunshot drowned out her horrid laughter. Ashela cried out in agony as the hurling projectile lodged itself in her left arm. I looked behind me in surprise and saw Vincent hanging suspended in the water with his gun still pointed at Ashela. My heart started pumping so hard I thought it would burst as I heard the trident power up.

"Vincent, watch out! Get out of here!" I yelled, starting to get up and go help him. I gasped in shock as two pairs of hands grabbed me and drug me backwards.

One of Ashela's henchmen leaned over and whispered into my ear. "You're not going anywhere, love."

More tears brimmed around the edges of my eyes as I tried to struggle against them. To my relief Ashela turned towards her two black tailed pawns and smiled evilly. "Get him."

They quickly let me go and chased Vincent as he rushed to the surface. I watched as Vincent broke the surface of the water but then was pulled quickly back down by Reno and Rude. Flickers of purple and blue caught my eye and before I knew it Yuffie and Cloud were fighting with the sea witch's henchmen. Ashela smiled as she raised the trident. The weapon responded and began to glow brightly. Yuffie must have seen the glow for she grabbed Cloud from his wrestling match with Rude and quickly swam off to the side.

Ashela looked over at me briefly. "So much for your prince."

Electricity crackled around the trident's points and right before the golden bolt was released I rushed forward and grabbed a handful of Ashela's ratty hair and yanked on it. The haggard old witch cried out both in anger and pain as the bolt from the trident was released.

Reno and Rude never saw it coming. The only thing that was left of them was a handful of black scales. She made a strangled cry that was a mix between frustration and anguish. Anger burned deep in her eyes and she snarled menacingly under her breath. I wasted no time in jetting up to the surface to help Vincent. He would drown if he stayed under water too long.

I caught him under his arms and pumped my tail as quickly as I could. Our heads broke the surface and I could hear Vincent take in a deep, strangled breath. I saw a small wooden boat off to the left a ways and, figuring Vincent had used it, helped him swim to it. As I was making my way towards the boat the water around me began to bubble and boil like a large fire had been set under it.

Vincent's arms wrapped around my shoulders seconds later and he began to pull me toward his boat. "Vincent, no, you have to get out of here," I pleaded.

He stopped and looked back at me, his eyes flaring briefly. "No," he said evenly. "I can't lose you again. I won't."

I began to try and reason with him but before I could even open my mouth to utter another word I was jerked under the surface. The shock of being pulled under the surface was so great I almost forgot that I could breathe under water. I took a gasping breath and tried to fight the force that was pulling me down, but once I realized whom it was that was pulling me under, I fought and struggled even harder.

I saw Vincent jump back into the water and begin to race down towards me. I started to call out and tell him to go back to the safety of his boat but before I could even utter a word Ashela flung me to the side. I didn't even see the outcropping of rocks until I hit it, causing me to black out.

I lunged toward Ashela and grabbed the trident, wrenching it from her grasp so quickly she barely had time to react. She growled at me then started to advance towards me, gnarly fingers outstretched, but I pointed the glowing trident straight at her chest, which made her reconsider her actions.

"Now, now," she crooned. "Be a good little human and give me back that trident."

My top lip pulled up into a sneer at the way she addressed me. My grip tightened and, to my surprise, the trident started to glow. This took Ashela by surprise as well, giving me just enough time to send a flare right at her tail. The witch cried out in pain and retreated away from me. The spot where I had hit her was charred and black. Blood was oozing from the wound but would quickly diffuse as soon as it touched the water around her. She snarled and began to advance towards me once more but another well placed bolt at another section of her tail gave me ample time to retreat.

By this time, my lungs were screaming for air. I swam as fast as I could back to my boat and quickly climbed into it. I stood in the center of it, hands firmly gripping the trident, ready for the old wench when she popped her head above water. I stood there, gasping and listening to my heart pounding in my ears for many long, silent moments.

My heart started to race even faster when the water around my boat began to bubble. I pointed the trident at the spot where the commotion was the worst and let all my strength flow into the trident. When the sea witch rose out of the water I sneered right back at her before letting all the power flow through the three points. A cascade of white hot light shot forth and slammed into her. She screamed as the light slowly disintegrated her body. When my strength failed me and the light died down, all that was left was a small pile of debris floating on the surface of the water.

I sighed and collapsed inside my boat, breathing heavily. After I calmed down I jumped back into the water and was pleased to see that Tifa's father had been restored. He looked up at me and reached his hand out for his trident. I let it go and watched it sail through the water until it dropped into his palm. He smiled up at me before turning and attending to his daughter.

I gasped inwardly and began to swim towards her but her father whirled around, pointing his glowing trident right at me. I froze instantly, knowing exactly what that thing was capable of. "Stop right there, human. I am grateful that you destroyed the sea witch but my daughter is my own concern, not yours."

With that, he scooped the unconscious Tifa up in his arms and swam away with her.